Login      Register  
Subscription

Gunmen kill 24 in attack on Burkina Faso church

At least 24 people were killed after unidentified gunmen attacked a church in northern Burkina Faso, officials said on Feb. 17, in the latest assault against places of worship in the West African nation. The attack took place on Feb. 16 during a weekly service at a Protestant Church in the village of Pansi in […]

China temporarily closes places of worship in effort to contain COVID-19

The Chinese government has temporarily closed all of the country’s places of worship in an effort to contain the COVID-19 respiratory coronavirus that has now killed almost 3,000 people, with more than 80,000 around the world verified with infections. The government also banned all group religious activities, including at the YMCA. But it also praised […]

Wear black on Ash Wednesday, Nigerian Catholics told

The Bishops of Nigeria have asked Catholics to wear black on Ash Wednesday as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims of kidnappings and terror attacks. In a statement due to be read in all Nigerian parishes on Ash Wednesday, the president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria, Arch-bishop Augustine Akubeze, asks […]

Russian-backed Orthodox summit suffers boycott

Fewer than half the Orthodox world’s 14 main churches are due to attend a late February summit on Ukraine’s new independent Orthodox Church, convened in Jordan with backing from Russia’s Moscow Patriarchate. “As we have all recognised, dialogue and reconciliation between brothers is the only way forward,” the summit’s organiser, Patriarch Theophilos Giannopoulos of Jerusalem, told […]

Reformers’ ideas gain momentum in German synodal way

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Germany’s defence minister, agrees with advocates of radical change in the nation’s Roman Catholic Church. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 57, often known as “AKK” in German media, a member of the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told journalists on Feb. 3 that she wished there were many more women in church leadership, beginning with their serving […]

How Amazon synod laid groundwork for reforms

Pope Francis was never going to fall into the trap set for him by his opponents over the Amazon Synod. His response, contrary to the initial reaction, propels the Church on a path of ongoing reform. It’s just not in the way people expected. After bishops from the region voted overwhelmingly in favour to ordained […]

Coronavirus: Holy Mass suspended in northern Italy

Several Catholic dioceses in northern Italy have suspended Mass and other activities to help contain the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus. The northern regions of Italy saw a dramatic uptick in coronavirus cases over the weekend, prompting some regions to suspend all events or gatherings of any form, in public or […]

Trump praised for raising issue of religious freedom in India

An organisation of Indian-American Christians has thanked US President Donald Trump for raising the issue of religious freedom and the plight of minorities during his talk with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying political tranquillity is fundamental to economic progress. The Federation of Indian American Christian organisations in North America (FIACONA) said it “truly hopes” that […]